TWO men have been sentenced to a total of 33 years for their part in a robbery committed last summer.

Ronald Lashley, 46, and Michael Anthony Crowley, 46, both from Liverpool, stole more than £280,000 when they carried out a raid on a security van at Cheshire Oaks on June 10,

Judge Elgan Edwards, who sentenced Lashley to 18 years for the robbery and five years for possession of a firearm, and Crowley to 15 years for the robbery and five years for firearms possession, said: 'This was a highly organised, well planned, professional robbery.

'It was a traumatic ordeal for the security guards and a 60-year-old woman who was also robbed by Lashley. It was a traumatic ordeal that will remain with them for the rest of their lives.'

DC Paul Rickett, part of the investigating team, said: 'Two professional criminals have been brought to justice by the sentence imposed by the judge.

'Hopefully this will show others that there is no gain in committing this sort of crime in the Cheshire area.'

He added: 'The sentence is a testament to the hard work put in by the officers involved in the investigation.'

The robbery happened at lunchtime when the guards were in the process of 2005.

The men dropped from the roof space above the machines and threatened the guards with a shotgun, machete and truncheon.

They took £285,000 from the cash machines and van and left the guards bound by their hands and feet before escaping through the roof space.

Two of the men escaped in a Vauxhall Vectra while a third threatened a member of the public and stole her Toyota Celica, which was later found partially burnt out in Frodsham.

Two further offenders remain outstanding and the police investigation is ongoing.